SALINAS, CA - Taylor Farms, North America’s leading producer of ready-to-eat salads and healthy fresh foods, is rolling out new, fully automated technology for its fresh-cut foodservice vegetable production.

Currently at its Yuma production plant, one of several processing facilities that helps Taylor Farms provide a third of the salads eaten in the U.S. and Canada, the company is introducing industry-leading robotics to fully automate its production process.

“We are extremely excited about the groundbreaking line changes we have been making”, said Mark Borman, President of Taylor Farms Foodservice Group. “This technology allows us to enhance efficiency while also continuing to deliver upon the industry-leading quality food and worker safety standards that we’ve set for ourselves and that our customers expect from us.”

To achieve its first fully automated line ready for installation and full automation of all 22 lines in the flagship facility in Salinas by 2027, Taylor Farms harnessed its technological prowess and smart thinking to perfectly craft machines to their plant’s specific needs.

Some technology is pulled in from other industries, like the pack-out robotic arms that would be right at home in a Detroit car factory now used to pack salad bags into boxes. According to a press release, other technology is first-of-its-kind and bespoke for Taylor Farms, like new, state-of-the-art automated drying machines to replace equipment requiring strenuous manual labor to operate and prioritizing cutting-edge sanitation and food safe design. As the only user of this technology in the U.S., Taylor Farms is setting the pace for the industry on how to best deliver product to customers with worker safety and food quality top-of-mind, and to drive automated change.

The magic is in the engineering with the carousel dryers designed to continuously operate while preventing bruising and waste from product spillage and loss. The new system is also more sustainable, with just three dryers processing the same amount of lettuce that used to require 10, empowering Taylor Farms to harness significant energy savings and benefit from a more streamlined factory floor.

The drive to innovate is nothing new to Taylor Farms, which was the first in the U.S. to introduce an automated romaine lettuce harvester. Today, Taylor Farms is researching on how to automate labor-intensive broccoli and cabbage harvesting to improve quality and yield. Each new technological feat helps Taylor Farms achieve its safety and quality goals to bring the best-available products to customers and further establish the company as a true innovator in the fresh produce space.

“We have been delivering fresh produce for 30 years and know that in order to continue delivering the highest quality produce and salads, we need to continue to innovate for the future,” said Marcus Shebl, Taylor Farms Vice President of Foodservice Operations. “This automated machinery opens news doors for us and our customers, and we are extremely excited about what is next.”

“We pride ourselves on being a company where team members can thrive and receive long-term career development to bolster their success,” said Lisa Hearne, Taylor Farms Senior Vice President of Foodservice Sales. “It is exciting to provide new opportunities for our team members to continue their careers here at Taylor Farms and allow for long-term growth at the company.”

Taylor Farms is embarking on this ambitious technology vision by automating all 22 lines by 2027.